Combination food container and implement for extracting the contents

ABSTRACT

A sealed container for foods in whatever suitable form, having an implement such as, for example, a straw, a spoon, or a fork, carried within a groove positioned entirely within the perimeter of one flat wall of the container. The groove has a depth such that the implement is positioned within the container yet sealed therefrom, and a tearable sealing member covers the groove to seal off the outside air. said one wall is additionally provided with a recess communicating with the groove for insertion of a finger to dislodge the implement.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Henry M. Chang Bronx, NY. [21] Appl. No 815,935 [22] Filed Apr. 14. I969 [45] Patented Nov. 30. 1971 [73] Assignee First Dynamics, Inc.

New York. N.Y.

[54] COMBINATION FOOD CONTAINER AND IMPLEMENT FOR EXTRACTING THE CONTENTS 3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. 220/902, 215/1 A, 220/85 D, 229/7 S [51] Int. Cl A47g 19/22 [50] Field of Search 220/902. 85 D; 239/33; 229/7 5, 1.5 C; 215/1 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,433,926 1/1948 Sayre 229/1 .5 C 3,385,501 5/1968 Chang 215/1 A 1,514,379 11/1924 Fleischer 229/1 .5 C

2,013,475 9/1935 Orton 215/1 A 2,720,969 10/1955 Kendall 205/43 X 3,189,171 6/1965 Mil1er.. 239/33 X 3.332567 7/1966 Pugh. Sr 229/7 5 3,381,876 5/1968 Biggins. 229/1.5 C FOREIGN PATENTS 626,349 5/1927 France 215/1 A 1.538.893 7/1968 France 220/902 Primary Examiner- Raphael H. Schwartz Auurney- Frank Ledermann ABSTRACT: A sealed container for foods in whatever suitable form, having an implement such as, for example. a straw, a

spoon, or a fork, carried within a groove positioned entirely within the perimeter of one flat wall of the container. The groove has a depth such that the implement is positioned within the container yet sealed therefrom, and a tearable sealing member covers the groove to seal off the outside air. said one wall is additionally provided with a recess communicating with the groove for insertion ofa finger to dislodge the implement.

PATENTEUNBV 3019?! 3.623 632 SHEET 1 OF 2 INVIiN'l'OR. HENRY M. CHANG ATTORNEY BY 4W PATENTEUNUV 30 ml SHEET 2 BF 2 INVHN'I'UR. HENRY M. CHANG ATTORNEY COMBINATION FOOD CONTAINER AND IMPLEMENT FOR EXTRACTING THE CONTENTS An object of the invention is the provision of a food container having mounted accessible from the outside thereof an implement of whatever nature useful in transferring the contents into the mouth, wherein the implement is carried entirely within the interior of the container by a flat wall thereof while being sealed from both the said interior and the outside air. Thus no part of the implement projects beyond the outer surface of the said wall; it is covered and sealed against the outside air by a sealing member comprising a strip or sheet of thin material which may be made of a suitable plastic or other suitable material. In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with parts broken away and partly in section, of one form of container embodying features of the invention, wherein the implement is a straw carried by the container cover.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of a container otherwise similar to that of FIG. I but having the straw carried by the bottom wall.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a similar container but which has the straw carried in a sidewall.

FIG. 6 represents a plan view of either the top or bottom of an elliptical container provided with the straw-carrying structure.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a container having a spoon carried by the cover.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

Referring in detail to the drawing, first to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a container 10 is shown, by way of example, having the shape of a six-sided right polyhedron which includes four sidewalls 11, the bottom wall 12 and the top wall 13. The upper edges of the sidewalls 11 are flared, preferably outward, to provide an endless flange l4, and the cover formed by the top wall 13 is so dimensioned as to seat on and be adhered to the flange by means of heat sealing, for example, where the container is made of a suitable plastic.

Along a diagonal of the cover 13, a substantially semicylindrical deformation 15 is pressed into or otherwise formed in the cover thus providing a groove 26 exposed through the top of the cover. The deformation, and hence the groove formed thereby, has a length slightly less than that between the opposed apeces of the sidewalls II and it tenninates in end walls 16 which are hence positioned close to the corners of the cover. The opposed walls of the deformation 15 are shown, at a position preferably spaced from the end walls 16, widened by being further deformed outwardly to provide recesses 27 which communicate with the groove.

A drinking straw 17 is dimensioned to register entirely within the groove 26. An example of a tearable sealing member is shown in the form of a tear strip 18 adhered to the cover 13 and dimensioned to at least cover the length and width of the groove and the recesses 27. Thus the straw is sealed from both the outside of the container and from the container contents. The member 18 may have the shape shown in FIG. I, or it may have a constant width or even may have or approach the same dimensions, not shown, as the cover. Preferably, in order that the member 18 may be readily grasped for severance, one end thereof has an unadhered tip 18a with the adherence to the cover terminating, for example, at the line 18b, FIG. 1. This graspable tip may extend beyond the perimeter of the wall, as shown.

After tearing the strip 18 back or off to expose the recesses 27, ones fingers may be inserted into opposite recesses to dislodge the straw and lift it out of the groove. Then access to the contents may be had by tearing back one comer 19 of the cover, preferably one of the two corners remote from the groove 26, FIG. 1. For this purpose the extremity of the comer 19 may also be lefi unadhered to the flange 14 for a distance extending back part way of the flange.

FIG. 4 shows a container 20 similar in form to that of FIG. I, but here the groove 26 in which the straw 17 registers, is

provided along a diagonal of the container bottom wall 12a instead of in the container cover.

In FIG. 5 the container 21 is likewise similar in form to that of FIG. 1, but instead of having the groove in the top 13a it is provided in one of the sidewalls, i.e., that shown at Ila.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a container 24 also of the same form as that of FIG. 1, but herein the groove 26a which is also shown provided in the cover or top 13b, is dimensioned to accommodate an implement having a relatively narrow handle and a widened end portion, such as a spoon 25, which is shown, or a fork or other implement, not shown. The spoon handle is shown at 25a and its widened end portion at 25b; the former nests between the mutually parallel edges of the groove and the latter registers in the complementary widened end portion 25c of the groove.

A drinking straw is, like a spoon, fork or other utensil or implement, an accessory for extracting the contents of the container and transferring it to the mouth. For liquids, a straw is used; for foods such as, for example, soups, a spoon is used; while for more solid foods like, for example, baked beans, a fork is used.

The instant invention is also applicable to containers of whatever cross-sectional conformation having an endless curved upright wall; for example, such as are circular or elliptical whence the top and bottom walls normally have the same outline. In geometry, a cylindrical surface is defined as one generated by the curvilinear motion of a straight line remaining parallel with itself; when such surface is stated to be endless, as an endless upright cylindrical wall, both circular and elliptical cross sections of the wall are embodied. Wherever the term cylindrical is used hereinafter it is to be understood that the term is consistent with such geometrical definition thereof.

An example of a container falling within the scope of the said definition is shown in FIG. 6 as an elliptical container wherein a groove 26 is provided in the top or bottom wall 23 along a maximum dimension, i.e., a major axis thereof. In the case of a container of circular cross section, not shown, the groove would be positioned along a diameter of the top or bot tom wall. No means is shown for providing an opening for insertion of the implement in FIG. 6, but any one of a variety of well-known means may readily be provided, as well as one equivalent to the unadhered tip 19 of FIG. 1, in the case of a plastic container, provided at one of the extremities of the major axis.

In each instance the implement-receiving groove is confined wholly within one flat wall or plane surface of the container and preferably, as shown, along a diagonal or other maximum dimension of the plane surface. If the groove is not provided with at least one finger recess 27, some difficulty may be encountered in extracting the implement from the groove. One such recess would suffice to get one finger in a position to ease the straw or other implement out of the groove, but two such recesses positioned .complementarily to each other, as shown, may be preferable. Positioning the groove along a maximum dimension of the plane surface permits of having the implement of maximum length while yet confining it wholly within the boundaries of the plane surface.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In combination, a container having two opposed generally rectangular walls lying in mutually parallel planes, one wall of said two walls having a groove therein extending along a diagonal thereof and terminating in end walls spaced from the extremities of said diagonal, an implement for extracting the contents of the container nesting wholly within said groove, said one wall having a recess extending transversely on either side and of the same depth as the groove communicating with the groove, said recess having a length along said diagonal substantially less than the length of said groove and being positioned substantially intermediate the length of said groove, said recess enabling insertion of a finger to dislodge said implement, the opposed longitudinal edges of said groove being mutually parallel throughout their length except for the defon'nation in said edges provided by said recess, and a tearable sealing strip covering said groove and said recess and having at one end thereof a graspable tip extending beyond the perimeter of the corner walls, and the other end of said strip terminating at the opposing comer walls, and one of the comers spaced from said groove and tearable strip having a portion thereof adapted to be torn outward therefrom to provide an entrance for insertion of said implement into the container.

2. A combination according to claim 1, said implement being a spoon including a relatively narrow handle portion extending from one end thereof toward but short of the other end thereof and a widened end portion extending from the ment is a drinking straw.

I i i k 

1. In combination, a container having two opposed generally rectangular walls lying in mutually parallel planes, one wall of said two walls having a groove therein extending along a diagonal thereof and terminating in end walls spaced from the extremities of said diagonal, an implement for extracting the contents of the container nesting wholly within said groove, said one wall having a recess extending transversely on either side and of the same depth as the groove communicating with the groove, said recess having a length along said diagonal substantially less than the length of said groove and being positioned substantially intermediate the length of said groove, said recess enabling insertion of a finger to dislodge said implement, the opposed longitudinal edges of said groove being mutually parallel throughout their length except for the deformation in said edges provided by said recess, and a tearable sealing strip covering said groove and said recess and having at one end thereof a graspable tip extending beyond the perimeter of the corner walls, and the other end of said strip terminating at the opposing corner walls, and one of the corners spaced from said groove and tearable strip having a portion thereof adapted to be torn outward therefrom to provide an entrance for insertion of said implement into the container.
 2. A combination according to claim 1, said implement being a spoon including a relatively narrow handle portion extending from one end thereof toward but short of the other end thereof and a widened end portion extending from the other end thereof toward but short of said handle portion, said groove having the opposed edges thereof which extend from one end thereof toward but short of the other end thereof substantially mutually parallel except for the deformation provided by said recess and having a length and width substantially equal to the length of said handle portion to permit registering of said handle portion therebetween and having a widened end portion to permit said widened end portion of the implement to register therein.
 3. A combination according to claim 1 wherein said implement is a drinking straw. 